


Mutual Misery X

by SidneyJane



Series: Mutual Misery [10]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Ron Weasley, Christmas, Christmas holiday, Decorating, Fluff, Gen, Grimmauld Place, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Light Pining, M/M, Party, Professor Draco Malfoy, Professor Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-11
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-08-21 20:54:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16584002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SidneyJane/pseuds/SidneyJane
Summary: It's the Christmas break from Hogwarts and Harry isn't happy being away from Draco. He gets Grimmauld place ready for his traditional Christmas celebrations with his adopted family and his friends, and prepares a present for Draco.





	Mutual Misery X

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling unusually festive (I don't celebrate Christmas) and thought that I'd write a Christmas chapter. I may add in another part before this if I feel like it, as it does jump forwards a bit in the story, I guess. 
> 
> There's also an Easter egg in here for a dear friend of mine!  
> I hope you enjoy it! <3

It was the Christmas break and Harry and Draco had left Hogwarts for the holiday. Harry had returned to Grimmauld place alone, and Draco had gone home to Malfoy Manor. With Draco not gracing Harry’s bedsheets over Christmas he found himself relying on the Essence of Tranquillity to have any form of peace during the night. Harry woke up in the cold, bleak, dark house and sighed. The space in his bed next to him was cold and empty and the house felt like it was missing something. His arm stretched out across the bed, wanting to feel Draco’s warm body next to his. He hadn’t been to Grimmauld place yet, so the pillows didn’t even smell like him. Harry had nothing of his to hold while he was away. He got out of bed with a sigh and walked down the stairs to the kitchen. Kreacher was milling around making breakfast and attempting to clean the living room. Harry watched the elf and smiled as he heard him muttering under his breath about the Weasleys – Harry knew that Kreacher and Ron got on well really. Harry ate his lone breakfast, and drank from a solo tea set. He sighed.

He had two days until he saw Draco for Christmas. The entirety of Harry’s family would be coming over: all the Weasleys, Ron and Hermione, Neville and Hannah, and of course Draco. It was Harry’s favourite time of the year and he wanted to make sure that the house was perfect for everyone.

Now that someone was in the house nearly all the time, there wasn’t much cleaning that needed to be done to make it presentable. Ron and Hermione would be coming over later on in the day to help with getting bedrooms ready for everyone.

Harry sat on the counter in the kitchen and pulled two small wooden boxes from the cabinet. They were inlaid with mother of pearl filigree and was polished to a high shine. Harry opened them. Inside them laid two delicate teacups, one decorated with a dark green pattern; the other with the pattern in a dark red. Harry had had these specially made by an artisan on Diagon Alley. He cast a protean charm over the teacups and waited for a minute or two. He stroked the green teacup with his wand, and a blank space formed in the middle of the pattern. Harry smiled as he saw a mirroring space opening up on the red teacup. He muttered something under his breath, his wand still on the green cup, and saw the words come up on the red cup. He marvelled at the power and existence of magic for a second or two and then put the cups gently back into their respective boxes. These would make a wonderful Christmas present for Draco.

Harry put the boxes back in the cabinet and hopped down from his perch on the counter.

He heard voices in the hallway and shuffled through to see what was happening. Hermione and Ron had arrived early. Harry’s heart leapt. He had missed his friends dearly, and Christmas was the only time of the year when they weren’t allowed to be busy.

“Alright mate?” Ron said, pulling Harry into a tight hug. Hermione watched them with a smile and then pulled Harry into yet another hug. She took her coat and scarf off and hung them on the rail. Ron had already thrown his jacket on the stairs and draped his scarf over the bannister.

“Have you even _started_ to clean, Harry?” she asked, looking around the hallway of Grimmauld place.

Harry nodded and looked at Ron, “Well, I didn’t think it was that bad.” He shrugged. Everyone – bar Draco – had seen the house in much worse condition during the Order days.

Hermione shook her head and went through to the kitchen to put her bags down. Ron and Harry followed. Hermione was shoulder deep in her bag and Harry realised that she must have brought her charmed bag. Ron shrugged at Harry and chuckled softly.

“Which room are we in this time?” Ron asked, and picked up the rest of their bags, “Blimey, ‘Mione, what’s in these?” he asked her when he felt the weight of them.

“Just things we’ll need.” She shrugged and continued to look for things in her bag.

“You’ll be in Regulus’ old room – right at the top.” Harry said and Ron left, levitating the bag up to the top floor.

Hermione had seemingly given up on finding what she was looking for, “So who’s coming this year? The family of course, Molly, Arthur, Ginny and George. Is Percy coming?”

“Erm, no. He couldn’t make it.” Harry replied. Kreacher came through with tea on a tray and then shuffled around the house lighting fires and cleaning the odd thing.

“Pity,” Hermione said, “Who else is coming?” She looked hopefully at Harry. She took a cup of tea from the tray that Kreacher had brought in and cradled it in her hands.

“Neville and Hannah, you and Ron and, erm… Draco.” Harry said. He tried to hide the smile that crept onto his face when he said Draco’s name, but Hermione was far too quick for him.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, “Ah… Draco. Are you two an item now?” she asked, smiling excitedly. Ron came back into the kitchen, his eyebrows raised in anticipation for Harry’s answer.

Harry nodded, his face flushing and an excited smile breaching his face. He had missed Draco terribly over the Christmas break and he just couldn’t wait to see him again.

Ron clapped Harry on the back, “It’s good to see you happy after all this time mate,” Harry smiled at Ron, “even if it is with a git like Malfoy.” He smiled, he was only teasing of course.

They went through to the living room and Hermione sighed, she rolled her eyes slightly at Harry. She waved her wand around the room and within an instant it was cleaner and fresher than it had been moments before. Harry stood agape at how she was able to do that.

“You really need to teach me some cleaning spells, Hermione.” He smiled as he admired her handiwork further.

She shook her head in pity and laughed, “I think you’ll do just fine. Honestly though, how have you not decorated for Christmas yet?”

Harry shot her a look with a shrug and she laughed, reaching into her bag to pull out everything from a shrunken Christmas tree and a box full of decorations to reems of wrapping paper and boxes full of what Harry assumed were presents, “Well come on, then,” she laughed at Harry and Ron, “I’m not doing all of this by myself.”

They worked hard on the living room. Hermione put the Christmas tree up, making it bigger until it fit the high ceilings properly. Harry and Ron stood staring at the tree wondrously – it was a beautiful, rich Norwegian spruce. They started placing decorations around it, taking care to not break some of the expensive glass baubles that Hermione brought. Hermione levitated an angel to the top of the tree and took a step back, precisely directing Harry and Ron in their decorating efforts.

“Why does it need to be so perfect ‘Mione?” Ron complained, running a hand through his messy ginger hair.

“Because it’s Harry’s first Christmas with Draco,” she hissed at him, clearly exasperated, “and while you may not appreciate the romantic effort, Draco will.”

Ron rolled his eyes at her playfully and she threw a roll of wrapping paper at him with a smile, “Wrap your mums present and then make a start on the dining room.”

Harry protested, “Really, you don’t need to help me clean the entire house. Kreacher is more than capable and he’s working on it as we speak.”

Hermione shot Harry a glance, despite her work to make things better for house elves she didn’t like people making them do things.

“Don’t worry – he’s being paid a handsome bonus for his efforts.” Harry said, and Kreacher bowed in the corner. Harry motioned to Kreacher’s agreement, and Hermione sighed. She bit her lip and huffed something under her breath. Harry left Ron and Hermione to wrap their presents in the living room. He made his way to his bedroom and sighed. He wanted to make it look good for when Draco came over but he was habitually messy – unlike his boyfriend. He started by changing the bedding and straightening the curtains around the four-poster frame. He cleared the desk of clutter and gave it a wipe down, and did the same to the bedside table that would be on Draco’s side of the bed. He shoved everything into the bottom of the wardrobe and looked around: it would do.

Ron had done one of the other spare rooms when Harry came out of his room, “Harry, you’ve got a boggart in Mum and Dads room – want me to take care of it?” He asked, a slight grin on his face.

“Sure, cheers mate.” Harry said. He made his way along the corridor and opened the curtains fully, it brought some life into the old house. He went downstairs. He enjoyed having more people in the house, it seemed to fill the void that he’d been experiencing for the last two weeks.

He pulled the teacups from their spot in the cabinet and joined Hermione in the living room. She was sat cross legged in front of the fireplace, wrapping a decorative bow around an oddly shaped present. Harry joined her, moving scraps of paper from the rug so he’d have space.

“What have you got there?” she asked, looking intently at the boxes that Harry held.

“Draco’s present,” Harry replied sheepishly, “I was actually going to ask you what you thought. I got the idea from you.”

Hermione looked flattered and excited as she opened one of the boxes. She inspected the green patterned china and gasped. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered, “Where on earth did you get it?”

“I had them made,” harry said, his voice was quiet, “watch…” he pressed his wand to the red teacup and the pattern parted. The words ‘Merry Christmas Hermione’ appeared on the green cup and Hermione smiled.

“Did you use the protean charm that I did with the DA coins?” she looked proud of Harry and also a little emotional.

Harry nodded and put the red cup back into its box. The writing on its corresponding cup gradually faded and the pattern returned. Hermione packed the cup safely away and looked at Harry with such affection.

She was about to say something when they heard an almighty crash from upstairs. Harry abandoned his box in an instant and ran up to where the crash had come from, taking the steps two at a time. Hermione followed him, wand at the ready. Ron stood outside the bedroom, with his hand on the door, looking flushed and breathing heavily.

“It’s okay,” he said with a grin, “it’s just the boggart. It kind of crashed into the wardrobe when I dealt with it. It’s the roller-skates, they’re never very coordinated.” He shook his head and rolled his eyes as he explained.

Harry laughed and Hermione put her wand away. Ron opened the door again cautiously, and opened it fully when he saw that the boggart had gone. He disappeared into the room and Harry and Hermione made their way back to their spot in front of the fire.

“It’s a very romantic use of the charm, Harry. I’m really impressed.” She complimented his work and handed him some wrapping paper. Harry wrapped the boxes carefully; he wanted everything to be perfect.

When they had finished wrapping their presents, they put them under the tree and admired their handiwork. Ron joined them after a while and put an arm around Hermione’s waist. Harry felt a deep emptiness in his chest – he missed Draco more than anything. He wished so much that he could have been there to decorate the tree and wrap the presents; he imagined bickering softly over the decoration colour scheme, wrapping presents at opposite ends of the room so that nothing was revealed before it should’ve been, and greeting their friends at the door together as if it were their house. He sighed. There was plenty of time in their lives to experience that.

Ron laid himself on the sofa and picked up the daily Prophet, he huffed at some article or other and settled down. Hermione sat on the sofa with him and Ron put his head on her lap. She stroked his hair absentmindedly as she pointed to something in the paper. Harry sat in front of the fire still and smiled to himself, wishing that he and Draco could be doing that. He wondered what Draco was doing now. Was he still at work in the shop? Was he sat alone in Malfoy Manor wrapping Harry’s present and stressing over getting every detail perfect? Was he packing his bag to come over and counting down the hours until he could break away and see Harry?

If he carried on thinking like that, he would drive himself crazy.

“It’s just not on ‘Mione,” Ron complained, snapping Harry out of his wondering, “We’ve been working so bloody hard and yet he get’s all the credit.” Ron huffed loudly and Hermione rolled her eyes.

“That is how the Ministry works, Ronald.” She smiled and stroked his hair.

“What’s going on?” Harry asked and moved to an armchair that was closer to them. Ron turned to look at Harry, his mouth slightly open in shock.

“Haven’t you been listening to anything I was saying?” he asked, his voice impatient.

“Sorry I was… erm…” Harry hesitated, “Daydreaming.” Harry shook his head and Hermione shot him a proud look.

Ron rolled his eyes, “Seamus and I, we’ve been working on this case for weeks – there’s a bunch of dark wizards practicing in Yorkshire and we’ve been slowly disbanding everything they’ve been doing. It’s taken weeks and weeks of painstaking work but we’ve finally got ‘em on their knees.”

“Right?” Harry said, not seeing what Ron was getting at.

“Well the head of the DMLE, Quentin Redsoule, has taken all the credit for ‘disbanding neo-death eaters’ when Seamus and I did nearly all the bloody work.”

“Ah,” Harry said, “That would rankle slightly.”

“Slightly?!” Ron lifted his head from Hermione’s lap and huffed. Hermione put a hand on his chest and he laid back down. She continued to stroke his hair, shaking her head at Harry in a silent cry to give the conversation up.

***

It was Christmas eve and Harry paced in the kitchen. Ron was paying no attention to him as ate a huge slice of cake and drank tea, talking to Kreacher about heaven knows what. Hermione watched Harry pace.

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor if you keep on doing that.” She commented. Harry stopped, and sat on the table that ran down the length of the room. He was careful not to disturb the decorations that Hermione had placed down it ready for Christmas Day. He drummed his fingers on the oak and looked at the clock: it was 4pm.

There was a whoosh of green flame as the Weasleys started to arrive through the floo network. Molly and George arrived first, their arms full of presents. Ron took the presents and bags from Molly and he and his brother went through to the living room. Molly scooped up Harry into a mothering hug and planted a kiss on his cheek. With a burst of green flame, Ginny and Arthur arrived, with more presents in their arms. They put their cargo onto the table and everyone greeted each other. Arthur shook Harry’s hand and Ginny pulled him in for a hug. Ron and George joked with Kreacher about something at the other end of the room and Molly and Hermione started talking about Christmas dinner. There was a knock at the front door and Kreacher lead Neville and Hannah into the kitchen. Hannah and Ginny embraced and chatted quietly at the table. Neville shook Harry’s hand enthusiastically and Harry took yet more presents into the living room. Ron showed Hannah and Neville into their room and bounded back down the stairs.

After everyone had settled in, they crowded into the living room and talked about anything and everything. The room was charged with people’s festive energy. Harry spoke to Ginny at length about her Quidditch career, and asked her everything he possibly could think of with regards to her predictions for the next year. They sat near the fire and it crackled enthusiastically as if it could sense Harry’s admiration for Ginny’s athletic career. George, Ron and Kreacher sat together in a pile of cushions debating something which resulted in sporadic howls of laughter from George. Neville, Hermione and Hannah talked about Hermione’s political career and her role within the Ministry – something that Hannah seemed to have a great interest in. They sat in some armchairs that Ron had brought through when more people arrived and they sipped butterbeer. Molly and Arthur sat together, watching their raucous family – adopted and all – spend quality time together and sighed contentedly at the sight.

Harry, while he was enjoying having everybody in his home, grew restless. He wanted Draco here to experience this. He checked the time: It was 7pm. There was a final knock at the door and Harry’s heart leapt.

It could only be Draco.

He ran to the door. Draco stood there in the snow in a heavy woollen cloak with a smart suitcase in his hand. His face lit up when he saw Harry answer. He ushered Draco in and left his case in the hallway. Before he closed the door, he noticed something strange – there was a lone sunflower blossoming through the snow in the hedgerow at the front Grimmauld Place. Draco hung his cloak over the rail, and ran a hand through his hair making sure that he looked okay. Harry had spent enough time around him to sense that he was nervous – he was after all about to enter a room full of people that knew him as a death eater.

Harry pulled Draco into a warm embrace and kissed him firmly, savouring the taste of Draco on his lips. He had waited for what felt like forever to hold him. He felt Draco relax as he stroked the back of his neck and whispered sweet nothings in his ear. Harry broke the embrace and looked Draco fully in the eyes, “Are you ready?” he asked. While he was trying to calm Draco somewhat, he couldn’t hide his excitement from showing through. He held Draco’s hand tightly, stroking little circles with his thumb on his cold skin.

Draco nodded. They walked into the living room and stood in the door way. The room hushed. Neville and Hannah were unphased by Draco’s presence – they had after all got used to Harry and Draco being constantly with each other. George and Ron looked up but were soon pulled into their conversation with Kreacher again, though they kept their debate quiet.

Harry heard Draco take a deep breath as Molly stood up. She looked at Draco and strode over to him. Draco braced himself for a tirade of abuse or a firm talking to. Instead, Molly wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly. Draco reciprocated and looked at Harry slightly surprised. When Molly released him, she planted a kiss on his cheek, “Welcome to the family, Draco.” She said and turned to go and sit down again.

Harry felt a lump rising in his throat – Draco had been exceedingly nervous about spending Christmas at Grimmauld Place but this was the best reaction they both could have hoped for. The room resumed its lively conversations and everyone went back to relaxing with each other. Draco took a liberty and sat at the upright piano at the far end of the room and began to play a festive tune quietly. It matched the atmosphere perfectly. Harry sat with Molly and Arthur and beamed at them, his heart lighter than it had ever been. Within no time at all, Grimmauld place was full of life and laughter, and the void that filled the house two days before was completely gone.

***

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave a Kudos or a Comment - I really love hearing your feedback! <3


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